Wednesday, March 13, 2013

First witness takes stand at Luka Magnotta preliminary hearing

A Montreal police investigator took the stand Tuesday at the
preliminary hearing of Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man accused of killing
and dismembering a Chinese student last year.

Magnotta is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lin Jun, a
Chinese-born national who was studying engineering in Montreal. As he
was on Monday, Lin's father Daran was in the courtroom Tuesday,
accompanied by a translator.

Michel Bourque, a major crimes investigator and the lead detective in
the case, is the first witness to speak at the proceedings. However, the
details of his testimony cannot be revealed as they are subject to a
publication ban.

Alleged killer Luka Rocco Magnotta is seen in court in an artist drawing
in Montreal, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. (Mike McLaughlin / THE CANADIAN
PRESS)

Bourque’s testimony, given in French, was translated by an interpreter
into English for Magnotta, who sat handcuffed and shackled in the
courtroom.

“First witness to be called is primary investigator from Montreal
Police - #Magnotta often had his eyes fixated on him,” CTV’s Daniele
Hamamdjian tweeted from inside the courtroom.

A preliminary hearing is held so evidence in the case can be presented
and a judge can decide whether it is sufficient to proceed to trial.

Bourque’s testimony followed a ruling by the presiding judge that media
and the public are allowed to attend the hearing. The defence had
argued that, with the case garnering international media interest and
the widespread reporting of the case online, Magnotta’s right to a fair
trial could be compromised.

Judge Lori-Renee Weitzman disagreed, and also dismissed a defence
request to broaden the terms of the publication ban. Publication bans
are typically imposed for preliminary hearings.

“I don’t think it’s the court’s role to tell the media what specific
elements can be published and cannot be published,” Mark Bantey, a
lawyer representing the media at the hearing, told reporters. “The code
is clear, it refers to evidence, and that is sufficient.”

In addition to first-degree murder, Magnotta faces the following charges:

Committing an indignity to a body;

Publishing obscene material;

Criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and members of Parliament;

Mailing obscene and indecent material.

Magnotta, who chose to be tried by a judge and jury, has previously pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Some of Lin's severed body parts were mailed to the Ottawa offices of
the Conservative and Liberal parties, and to two Vancouver schools.

More remains were also found at a Montreal park.

Magnotta, originally from Ontario, has been described as a low-budget
porn actor. He was born Eric Clinton Kirk Newman before changing his
name in 2006.

No comments:

Facebook Badge

About Me

Your idea of me is fabricated with materials you have borrowed from other people and from yourself. What you think of me depends on what you think of yourself. Perhaps you create your idea of me out of material you would like to eliminate from your own idea of yourself. Perhaps your idea of me is a reflection of what other people think of you. Perhaps what you think of me is simply what you think that I think of you. Don’t tell me who I am because unless I write all my thoughts down on a piece of paper and hand it to you, you don’t even know half my life. Isn’t it weird how you never seem to focus on what you like about a person but tend to notice every flaw they have?